Award-Winning Faculty

Learn from some of the best in the business.

The People Behind the Passion

At IPR, our faculty is as passionate and they are credentialed. You can feel confident in knowing you are learning from some of the best in the business. Among our faculty are Gold and Platinum record recipients, Grammy, Clio and Cannes award winners and nominees. We also have a number of AVID certified instructors on staff.

Many of our instructors are currently working in the fields they teach, bringing the most industry-relevant information directly to the classroom. It is easy to see their passion for their craft and connection with their students, as they strive to inspire the next generation of creative artists.

Aneesa Adams

Instructor, Art History, Visual Art, Global Citizenship

Aneesa Adams grew up in the Minneapolis arts scene as the daughter of an active visual artist. She is a classically-trained artist and has been teaching since 2003. She has exhibited her work throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin and currently exhibits her work in and around Minneapolis. While her focus is on oil painting and drawing, she has also created album art for local musicians and props for local theatrical productions.

A desire to integrate emerging technology into education led her to pursue her Masters in Media Design and Technology. Along with a passion for real-world, project-based learning, she enjoys using technology to hone 21st century skills and bring the broader world into the classroom.

In addition to making art, she enjoys traveling, volunteering in her community, advocating for social justice, music, and the great outdoors.

Mary Jane Alm

Music Theory, Vocal Performance

Mary Jane Alm has toured internationally, been featured on national network TV and performed on stage for some of America's largest corporations. Today, she continues a busy gig schedule with both her own band and with a show band called Synergy, which tours the corporate client world.

Mary Jane's first album, Prisoner of the Heart, was recorded in Minneapolis. Two more albums, Blue Earth and Too True, were recorded in Nashville and in various studios in the Twin Cities, including Paisley Park.

Her latest album, Me and The Wild Blue, was recorded in the IPR studios. It was produced and mixed by Grammy winner and audio production and engineering program chair, Steve Hodge.

Education

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Client Highlights

Coca-Cola

General Mills

Johnson & Johnson

McDonald's

Pillsbury

Sears

Project Highlights

Performed with or opened for:

Charlie Daniels

David Byrne of the Talking Heads

Jimmy Webb

Marie Osmond

Michael Johnson

The Judds

Willie Nelson

Worked locally with:

The Rupert's Orchestra

Women Who Cook

Honors & Awards

15 Minnesota Music Awards, including "Best Female Vocalist" and "Artist of the Year"

Twice inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame as a solo artist and a member of City Mouse

Grammy-nominated, Emmy Award winner and Parents’ Choice Award winner for one of her five albums with the Music Workshop for Kids

Steve Alm

Music Theory, Performance

Steve has taught at IPR since 2008 and holds bachelor's degrees in open studies and music education. In addition to his career as a professional performer, Steve has taught band in the public schools and has given guitar and piano lessons to children and adults.

Steve has played as a solo artist and in numerous ensembles, rock, blues, dance and show bands and symphony orchestras. He has performed coast-to-coast in the United States, as well as in Canada, the Caribbean, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil and Shanghai. In his travels, Steve has also performed as a magician, juggler and fire-eater. He is happy to have a safer job as teacher.

Kevin Beacham

Hip-Hop Essentials

Kevin Beacham discovered hip-hop in 1980 and has been actively involved in the genre’s culture ever since. His early fascination with hip-hop led to emceeing, production and eventually deejaying.
After 15 years as an artist, Kevin felt a growing need to explore the business side of the industry and started his own company, Rage Promotions.

His industry connections led to positions as an independent journalist, head organizer for Scribble Jam Hip-Hop festival and an ongoing stint as a radio show host. He has used his knowledge of hip hop on his radio show, in his writing, and in his lectures at colleges, high schools and community programs.

In 2003, Kevin was asked by indie powerhouse label Rhymesayers to move to Minneapolis to act as project manager. In conjunction with Rhymesayers, Kevin introduced a hip-hop class to IPR in 2006.

Regardless of which new venture he explores, Kevin never loses sight of his passion for hip-hop culture and has spent countless hours researching and studying its past and present.

Client Highlights

Produced campaigns for many major labels and independent companies, including:

Kevin Bowe

Production, Songwriting

Kevin Bowe is a singer/songwriter/producer/guitarist who got his start in the Minneapolis music scene that spawned Prince, The Replacements and Husker Du in the early 1980’s. After spending that decade in various punk and roots bands, he caught a break, and met uber-producer David Z (Prince, Fine Young Cannibals, Big Head Todd).

Kevin began writing for other artists. His first cut ("Riverside" on Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s Warner Bros. debut "Ledbetter Heights") went platinum and led to a major publishing deal. Kevin became the first writer signed by legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in over twenty years.

On a typically subzero February night in Fargo, Kevin had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time sharing a stage with a 13-year-old blues prodigy named "Kid" Jonny Lang. One sound check was all it took and they became friends and writing partners. When he invited Lang to Minneapolis they hooked up with David Z and the combination resulted in two platinum albums on A&M Records, including the top 5 single/video "Breakin’ Me".

You can take the punk out of Minneapolis but.... whatever. In 2005 Kevin (to the dismay of thousands of other more gifted guitarists) became the guitarist for Paul Westerberg & His Only Friends on their US tour.

Kevin’s first production credit appeared on Shannon Curfman’s Arista debut "Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions"; he wrote seven songs for the album including the single/video "I Don’t Make Promises". He also wrote four songs on Etta James’ RCA release “Let’s Roll” which won a Grammy.

The move into producing stuck; Kevin’s demos got Shane Henry signed to Shanachie Records and he produced Shane’s debut album "Deliverance" as well as Renee Austin’s Blind Pig debut "Sweet Talk", her follow up release and Tommy Castro’s #2 charting album "Soul Shaker" which Billboard called his "best ever". He also recorded Paul Westerberg’s “Open Season” soundtrack album on Sony and mixed the Meat Puppets “Sewn Together” release.

The world of film and television has also come on board; Kevin’s songs have been featured in many movies and shows like The Sopranos, Where The Heart Is, Steal This Movie, The Tonight Show, Letterman, Boston Public, The Young & the Restless, Austin City Limits, ESPN, VH1, CMT and MTV. He has been a regular supplier of music for ESPN for the last 10 years.

Kevin’s latest thing is Alison Scott, after meeting the pianist/singer/songwriter at a songwriting contest he produced her first album and became her manager/guitarist and producer. Alison has now sold over 10,000 units and they tour all over the midwest to sold out shows. This band became a working unit and forms the Okemah Prophets, Kevin, Peter Anderson and Steve Price also tour and record with Freedy Johnston.

Education

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Project Highlights

His first cut, “Riverside” on Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s Warner Bros. debut “Ledbetter Heights,” went platinum and led to a major publishing deal.

Working with Johnny Lang and David Z resulted in two platinum albums on A&M Records, including the top five single/video "Breakin’ Me.”

Kevin’s first production credit appeared on Shannon Curfman’s Arista debut "Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions"; he wrote seven songs for the album including the single/video "I Don’t Make Promises".

Kevin’s demos got Shane Henry signed to Shanachie Records and he produced Shane’s debut album "Deliverance" as well as Renee Austin’s Blind Pig debut "Sweet Talk", her follow up release and Tommy Castro’s #2 charting album "Soul Shaker" which Billboard called his "best ever". He also recorded Paul Westerberg’s “Open Season” soundtrack album on Sony and mixed the Meat Puppets “Sewn Together” release.

Kevin’s songs have been featured in many movies and shows like The Sopranos, Where The Heart Is, Steal This Movie, The Tonight Show, Letterman, Boston Public, The Young & the Restless, Austin City Limits, ESPN, VH1, CMT and MTV. He has been a regular supplier of music for ESPN for the last ten years.

Has collaborated with:

Chuck Prophet

Dan Wilson (Semisonic)

Delbert McClinton

John Mayall

Leo Kottke

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Paul Westerberg

Richie Sambora

Robben Ford

The Rembrandts

Three Dog Night

Honors & Awards

Won a Grammy for one of the four songs he wrote on Etta James’ RCA release “Let’s Roll.”

Walter Chancellor, Jr.

Production, Logic Studio

A talented multi-instrumentalist, Walter Chancellor has been a mainstay in the Twin Cities contemporary jazz and R&B scene for over a decade. Within the last two years, Walter has performed and recorded with various national and local acts in the Twin Cities music scene such as Prince, with whom Walter received platinum record status for his sax work on Prince’s “Emancipation” CD. Walter has performed and recorded with such artist as Chaka Khan, Bobby Lyle, Musiq Soulchild, Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, DJ Kaskade, TKO, Thomasina Petrus, Erica West, Best Kept Secret, Debbie Duncan, Bruce Henry, and Conversation Piece (4 years as House Band for Jazzmine's Night Club).

Drawing his inspiration from early jazz and funk luminaries, Walter’s diverse background also includes extensive experience in Audio and MIDI production & composition. Walter has taught Desktop Production there for the last decade. Walter specifically teaches Midi, Audio and Video Post-Production at the “Institute of Production and Recording” (IPR) in downtown Minneapolis. Walter has also been instrumental in the launch of an after school program called “IDEAWERKS, in which he taught and wrote and created curriculum for the after school and summer programs at Powderhorn & East Phillips Parks in Minneapolis, MN aimed towards 12-18 year old children.

Through his own production company “Chancellor Music”, Walter provides music production, songwriting, and session work for local & national artists alike, film, advertising, corporate groups, and other private entities.

James Curry

Instructor, Digital Video and Media Production

James has been active in post production for over 25 years. His editorial work includes numerous projects both in Los Angeles and Minneapolis and ranges from trailers, promos, epk's, commercials, and music videos, to prime time television work for NBC, FOX and ABC networks.

James is an Avid Certified Media Composer 7 Instructor, an and Apple Certified Trainer, an Adobe Education Trainer, and is also certified in Final Cut Pro X. James specialty is non-linear editing and he teaches Video Editing I and II, as well as Demo Reel classes at IPR.

Education

B.F.A., Digital Video and Media Production, Minnesota School of Business

Justin DeLeon

Audio Engineering, Pro Tools

A talented instructor, Justin brings his experience of playing in professional studios and his own musical groups to the classroom. He has self-produced, recorded, mixed, mastered and played the drums for Sleeper Pins, Dissonant Creatures and the Swallows. Before coming to IPR, Justin worked for four years as a staff engineer at Angel Beach Studios.

Jeff DesLauriers

Program Chair, Sound Design for Visual Media, Certifications

A graduate of The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, Jeff DesLauriers acts as an instructor and program chair for IPR's Sound Design for Visual Media program. He is an Avid-Certified Expert-Level Pro Tools Instructor, and has specializations in sound design, sound supervision, audio post production, field and location audio recording, live sound reinforcement, and music recording and production. In addition to being Pro Tools Expert certified, Jeff holds manufacturer certifications from Waves Plug-Ins, T.C. Electronics, and SIA Smart Audio Software.

Jeff's experience includes working up from assistant engineer to chief engineer at Makoché Recording Company in Bismarck, ND, where he worked on two Grammy-nominated albums. He has done sound design, sound editing, and mixing for major motion pictures including Memorial Day, Falling Star, and Americons.

Jeff also has skills in audio restoration and forensic audio. When he's not teaching, Jeff freelances in the metro area and nationally.

Education

Diploma, Master Recording Program II, The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences

Kelly Dougherty

Adjunct Instructor, Music Business Contracts and Licensing

Kelly M. Dougherty is an attorney in Minneapolis and primarily represents clients in business, commercial litigation and employment law matters. She is also building her practice in entertainment and copyright law. Prior to law school, Kelly studied in Nashville, Tennessee, where she completed a B.B.A in Music Business and Audio Engineering. Kelly also worked for Word Entertainment in the Production Department and found she had an interest in music and copyright law, which started her path to becoming an attorney. She has a special interest in representing musicians and creative professionals in their business, copyright and contract matters.

Education

J.D., William Mitchell College of Law

B.F.A., Music Business and Audio Engineering,Belmont University

Career Highlights

Worked at Word Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers, on Music Row in Nashville, TN

Josh Engen

Instructor, Graphic Design

Josh Engen has more than 10 years in web delivery with a heavy emphasis in journalism and graphic design. Seven of those years were spent supervising a team of designers and writers at a media company in Minneapolis. He holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and graphic design (with an emphasis on interactive media) from the University of Northwestern and is currently pursuing a master’s in journalism at Harvard University. In addition to his freelance work, Josh currently teaches in the Interactive Media and Graphic Design and Entertainment Business programs at IPR.

Tom Garneau

Engineering

The phrase “early adapter” gets thrown around a lot in the music industry, but it has never been truer then when describing Tom Garneau. A true audio aficionado, he received his first analog tape recorder at age seven and started his first studio in 1981. After years of working in the MPLS underground scene, Tom made the jump to the majors in ’89 by becoming a staff engineer at Prince’s Paisley Park studios, his seven year tenure resulting in astonishing number of gold and platinum records.

When asked why he wanted to teach, Tom told us, “I love teaching and sharing what others have shared with me. My Dad was a public high school teacher. His former students go out of their way to tell me the impact he had on their learning and life. My goal is to have that kind of impact on my students."

Peter Greenlund

Program Chair, Live Sound and Show Production

With over 30 years in the live production industry, Peter Greenlund brings a wide variety of experience to IPR. He’s done it all, from international touring with the likes of Prince, Phil Collins and Willie Nelson to serving as the media director in a large house of worship, and absolutely everything in between.

Peter has made live show production his life. He has learned how to make each event the best it can be through his experience working several different positions. Peter is not only involved with live productions, but he also designs and installs sound systems in multiple venues from theaters to churches. He continues to mix bands every weekend and is currently the front-of-house engineer for The Commodores. When Peter’s not with them, you can find him working with local artists and events.

Client Highlights

Carlton Dinner Theater – production manager/lead sound engineer

Prince tours – guitar technician, system technician, monitor engineer

Glam Slam – production manager/lead sound engineer

Phil Collins – systems technician

Willie Nelson tours – front-of-house engineer

The Highwaymen tours – monitor engineer

Wooddale Church – media director

McNally Smith College of Music – live sound instructor

The Commodores – front-of-house engineer

Awards

Inducted into the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame in 2008 for his work with Free and Easy

Craig Grossman

Music Business

Craig Grossman has been booking and managing artists full time now for twelve years. He has booked tours, long and short for the likes of Trampled By Turtles, The Ike Reilly Assassination, Honeydogs, Freedy Johnston, Mark Mallman, Dressy Bessy, The Figgs, Kaiser Cartel, Tracy Bonham, Robbers On High Street and many more. Grossman founded Green Room Music Source in 2006 and has dedicated himself to merging his music business expertise with education.

Joining The Institute of Production and Recording in 2005, he remains a current faculty adjunct instructor in the school’s entertainment business program and has taught courses on artist management, tour management, copyright law, publishing, event production and the recording industry.

Mitch Hare

Business

Mitch Hare is the executive program chair and the chair of the Music and Entertainment Business program at the Institute of Production and Recording. He holds a bachelors in Music from the University of Minnesota where he studied music theory under the direction of David Dahmschroeder. While at the university, he also studied piano and voice, and he performed in chorale and jazz ensembles. Mitch studied jazz piano and theory at the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis. He holds a masters in Managerial Leadership from Globe University.

Mitch has over 30 years’ experience in music as a performer and entertainment contractor. He worked as a bassist on two albums and toured with regional bands that shared the stage on shows with national recording artists BB King, Joe Cocker, The Guess Who, Nicolette Larson and Little Anthony and the Imperials. After getting off the road, Mitch focused on performing locally with artists in the corporate band scene and contracted musicians for work on corporate and social entertainment events. He continues to perform as a keyboardist in Minneapolis currently on stage with singer Aimee Lee.

As an educator, Mitch has over eight years’ experience as a program developer and manager for media arts programs at the Institute of Production and Recording and Broadview Entertainment Arts University. He enjoys working with faculty and program leaders to develop and manage curriculum that supports and respects the philosophy that the creative arts are instrumental in creating a rich and valued place in our culture and in the marketplace.

Jessica Hegland Richmond

Digital Photography

Jessica has more than fifteen years of experience as a photographer in the Minneapolis area. Dynamic and motivated, she is a natural at blending business and photography with art and design to create concepts, shoots and edited finished products. She is an “artist at heart” and especially enjoys shooting musicians and fashion.

Portia Heller

Instructor, Social Sciences

Portia hails from Indianapolis, IN, and is currently the president of Engineering Products Associates, Inc./Bortech Sales, Inc., a manufacturer’s representative and distributor in electronic test equipment and power supplies. She started as a regional representative for EPA in 1981, became Sales Manager in 1987, and eventually assumed the helm of the company in 1994.

She began her teaching career with Minnesota School of Business ten years ago when a friend in her industry finally convinced her to try teaching. She was instantly smitten, and has been teaching and guiding ever since.

Portia has a diverse background that includes intense classical study in violin, piano, and voice, work with experimental theater, training and showing horses, as well as trapshooting. She has four state trapshooting titles from Indiana, numerous titles from many other states, and was the eighth woman in the nation to attain the honor of maximum yardage. She was the Runner-up in the National Championships in Ladies Handicap, a consistent member of the All American Team, and as she jokingly tells her students, “Don’t tangle with me!”

Her business experience includes being regional sales engineer for Indiana and the four contiguous states for Engineering Products Associates, Inc. She moved to Minnesota, to take on the position of sales manager, and eventually president of the company.

Her inspirations draw from nature and chamber music. She is passionate about teaching, inspirational speaking, music and gardening. She is currently an Adjunct Instructor on numerous Minnesota School of Business campuses, as well as IPR, and the Adler Graduate School. She is also an accomplished pianist, violinist, and vocalist. She has recently started a new venture, SWII.

She resides just out of Shakopee, “in the woods, by the waterfall”, with her beloved feline advisor, Wenceslas, and his newly acquired young friend, Scaramouch.

Steve Hodge

Audio Production and Engineering

Steve is best known as the primary Mixing Engineer for "Flyte Tyme Productions," the company of super-producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Steve was pivotal to the evolution of the Flyte Tyme sound. This partnership led to hits for a long list of artists: Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Sting, Rod Stewart, Boys II Men, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, TLC and on and on. Steve currently holds well over 100 Gold and Platinum records, and is also a Grammy Winner.

In the summer of 1969, Hodge got a job working construction on one of the dozens of new recording studios popping up in LA, working for MGM Records Director of Engineering Val Valentin. This led to work as a second engineer and working on landmark records like the Osmonds “Puppy Love”, Sammy Davis Jr’s. “Candy Man”, and Boston’s groundbreaking first record.

From second engineer to first engineer to staff engineer; he worked in many of LA's top studios, from MGM Records, and The Record Plant, to the legendary West Lake Audio. Hodge left Los Angeles to work at Studio in the Country in Louisiana in the early 70s, where he did work as producer/engineer. There he worked on roots blues and unique musical genres with artists from Professor Longhair to the Wild Magnolias and Clifton Chenier.

A return to LA, finds Hodge working on a series of major projects as engineer and mixer, most notably for Solar Records, with their stable of artists: Shalamar, Lakeside, The Whispers, Dynasty and others.

In 1985, Hodge got a call from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, asking him to fly from LA to help them with a very important album they were producing at their fledgling studio in Minneapolis.

The album was "Control," which established Janet Jackson as a pop diva, and was instrumental in Jam and Lewis winning the Grammy as Producers of the Year in 1987. It created an international reputation for their Flyte Tyme Productions and began an eighteen-year relationship with Hodge at the console of one of the greatest hit-making machines in the history of the recording industry. From that point on, as Flyte Tymes mixing engineer, Hodge was pivotal to the evolution of the Flyte Tyme sound, a mix of unique hard-hitting rhythmic lines, lush multi-layered production and melodic vocals. This approach led to hits for an astonishing list of artists - Janet and Michael Jackson, Sting, Rod Stewart, Boys II Men, Mary J. Blige, Maria Carey, TLC and on and on.

Steve Hodge has close to 100 Gold and platinum records to his name. He refers to this as “A ridiculous amount by anyone’s standards”. To put it another way, he’s worked on well over a hundred million records in circulation. If that’s not a definition of achievement then we don’t know what is. In 2007 Steve was elected to The Board of Governors of the Chicago Chapter of The Recording Academy and served until 2009. Steve now spends the majority of his time serving the students of IPR as Program Chair and Instructor.

Bob Jenkins

Post-Production, Orchestration, Scoring, Music Theory

Bob Jenkins has been a professional musician since he was 15 years old. His musical career includes performing as a trombonist, conducting orchestras on stage and in the recording studio and composing and arranging music for advertising, films and records.

Micah Johnson

Instructor, Sound Design

Micah’s career started at The Hit Factory in Miami in 2002 where he was a general assistant on several records and to several major-label artists. His experience at The Hit Factory was surreal. On any given day, all five studio rooms would be booked with artists like J-Lo, Missy Elliot, Genuine and Timbaland.

After working at The Hit Factory, Micah moved to Los Angeles to work at Capitol Records Studios as an assistant engineer. While in California, he also gained experience in post-production by working for Radio In The Nude, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and Widget Post, and Eargasm/Atlantis Group. During his eight years at Eargasm, Micah was the chief engineer for video games, national TV and radio commercials, podcasts, audio books, feature films, television shows, webcasts and more. He recently moved to Minneapolis with his wife, sound engineer Jaime Johnson, and their two children, to open Audio Artists, which specializes in post-production, voiceover, sound design and mixing.

Education

A.S., Recording Arts, Full Sail University

Client Highlights

Timbaland

Cher

Florence and the Machine

Juliette Lewis

Mel Gibson

Anthony Hopkins

Reese Witherspoon

Jeremy Piven

Project Highlights

Recording engineer on “Assassins Creed 3”

Recording engineer on “Skylanders Giants”

General assistant on two-time platinum album “Under Construction” by Missy Elliot

Amanda Kirchner

Digital Video, Film History

Growing up on a farm in southern Minnesota, Amanda developed two passions: astronomy and movies; she has been a science fiction geek since she was six. As an undergrad, she studied physics and astronomy, but was also involved in theater, mainly as a lighting designer. After graduating, she spent a year in a science documentary filmmaking program in Montana, where she learned about HD video production, field recording and post-production.

Amanda transferred into a visual effects program in Minneapolis, focusing on digital compositing and 3D modeling. While in Minneapolis, she was involved in two independent films as a visual effects artist and production manager. After graduation, Amanda spent three years at a local company, where she worked with audio-video production and audience response technologies for corporate meetings across the country.

Amanda returned to graduate school to focus on film theory and history, completing her Master’s in film studies with an emphasis on film technology and animation. Currently, Amanda teaches classes in video production, film history, and computer science. She is an Avid Media Composer certified instructor, but she is also familiar with Apple Final Cut Pro and Adobe’s Creative Suite. For the last two years, Amanda has been a freelance video artist as well, producing videos for local non-profit organizations and music videos for local musicians. In her free time, Amanda likes to play ultimate frisbee and broomball, home brew, and knit.

Jason Koskovich

Accounting

Jason Koskovich first earned his accounting degree in 2000 from Dakota County Technical College earning a spot in the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society. Over the next 10 years he worked in the corporate offices for TGI Fridays, Cross Telecom, and Granite City Food & Brewery. In his spare time, Jason worked on street teams for multiple local bands and decided to take his love of music to the next level.

In 2010 he enrolled at The Institute of Production & Recording pursuing a degree in Music & Entertainment Business and graduating Cum Laude with distinctions. Jason is currently the Student Accounts representative for IPR as well as an adjunct instructor.

Troy Lafaye

Instructor, Digital Video and Media Production

Troy has been making films since the age of 15 and has worked in a number of different industry positions, including producing two independent feature films, numerous award-winning shorts, and a documentary. His most recent work is as a producer, director, and story editor on the television series Transylvania Television, which aired nationally on the TUFFTV network. Troy is also the founder and director of the Midwest SciFi Short Film Festival.

Troy has worked as a video production instructor since 2006 and teaches courses in production management, screenwriting, and video production at IPR.

Colt Leeb

Engineering, Production, Pro Tools, Editing

A graduate of The Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Colt Leeb is a young and gifted instructor with an already impressive and expanding set of credentials. He is an Avid Certified Pro Tools Instructor, with specializations in audio recording and production, MIDI, digital recording and editing.

Colt has spent countless hours behind the counsel, recording, producing, engineering, editing and creating music for many local and national artists as well as worked at Master Mix Studios, Minneapolis, and Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN.

According to Colt, "Being able to edit audio at a professional level is arguably the most essential skill for the recent graduate. It makes me feel great when students complete my advanced editing class knowing they will be a valued employee at any studio on the world."

Aside from his work in the music industry, Colt enjoys writing music for his band, Absent I, and considers himself to be an avid outdoorsman as long as the weather is nice and he gets to go home at the end of the day to sleep in his own bed.

Andrew Lucas

Andrew has recorded, produced, and mixed music for Bad Boy Entertainment, Cam’ron and the Dip Set, and Pigeon John, among many others. In 2008, the self-titled album by Doomtree, on which he engineered several songs, reached #1 on the College Music Journal’s hip-hop chart. Most recently he has engineered records for More Than Lights, and Mama Digdown’s Brass Band.

As a consultant to Daymond John, CEO of FUBU, Andrew designed and installed several production studios for FUBU in Miami, Long Island, and the top of the Empire State Building. He has also produced and recorded national radio advertisements for Ebay, DeVry University, The Sonny and Cher Show DVD collection, Paralyzed Veterans of America and others.

Andrew’s music production on songs and albums by Dessa, Aby Wolf, and Medida has been featured on numerous “Album of the Year”, “Artists of the Year”, and “Songs of the Year” lists by Star Tribune, City Pages, The Onion, and Minnesota Public Radio.

Jim Lund

Instructor, Digital Video and Media Production

Jim is a multiple award-winning commercial director and producer who founded and ran his own commercial production company, James Productions, for over twenty years. He also opened the Twin Cities’ first nonlinear edit facility (with an AVID Media Composer), and owned and operated Energy Park Studios, the Midwest’s largest full-service stage rental facility. Jim has taught business seminars around the country through Fred Pryor Seminars, and operated a successful consulting business.

Jim has won five Clios, a Cannes Lion, and countless regional advertising awards, as well as a first place screenplay award at the Charleston Film Festival.

Jim specializes in all aspects of video production and development. He teaches production and production management courses at IPR.

Rich Manik

Music History, Music Theory

Rich Manik is a freelance musician and recording artist living in the Twin Cities area since 1988. He currently performs on all woodwinds and keyboard with many local and national artists in a variety of musical styles from symphonic to contemporary popular music. Some of the pop artists Rich has performed with include, The Temptations, The Four Tops and Kenny Rodgers. Additionally, Rich has had the opportunity to perform with some well-known jazz musicians such as Clark Terry, Lou Rawls and Jack McDuff. Rich has extensive experience performing in and touring with productions of, the 1940’s Radio Hour and A Little Night Music and when possible, continues to tour with local and national artists.

His continuing performance experiences include recording sessions for radio and television, pit orchestras and as a featured guest artist / clinician and conductor. Some of the most recent performance experiences have included performances with the George Maurer Jazz Group as well as national performances with the Minneapolis based band Synergy. Also, beginning in 2010, Rich had the opportunity to perform as a member of the St. Cloud Symphony including compositions such as Ravel’s Bolero and Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije, Troika ,Romeo and Juliet, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Bernstein's West Side Story Dance Suite. Also in 2011, he participated in a Minnesota Public Television feature on the George Maurer Group as well as a performance with the St. Paul City Ballet. Also in 2012, Rich participated in the premier performances of George Maurer's Autumn Song at the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, in Provincetown, MA.

During the past 12 years, Rich has been an adjunct instructor of music at a variety of colleges and universities including; Anoka Ramsey Community College, St. Paul College and most recently taught Rock and Roll History to a class of 400 students at St. Cloud State University. Currently, he is an adjunct instructor at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN., and The Institute for Production and Recording in Minneapolis, MN., and will be returning to St. Cloud State in January 2013 to teach Rock and Roll history.

Gail Milstein

Instructor, Writing, Communications

As a creative writer, Gail brings a lot of passion to IPR. She has worked as a teaching artist for The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis for over a decade. During the summer, she teaches in The Loft’s Young Writers’ Program, and throughout the year, works with writers of all ages at both The Loft and in libraries, as part of First Pages (a literary enrichment program offered by Hennepin County Library in collaboration with The Loft). She’s also collaborated with the Minnesota Center for Book Arts on a holiday-themed writing class, and designed workshops for memoir writing and sampler classes that rock the creative writing genres, from poetry to fiction.

Prior to her life as a writer, Gail worked in sales and marketing and owned her own graphic design company. She is first and foremost a mother (of three musicians, one of whom produces Jazz 88’s third highest ranked radio show, The FUNKtion) and wife, which provides her with endless inspiration for her writing.

Education

M.F.A., Creative Writing: Hamline University

B.F.W., Social Work: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Career Highlights

Published in several Midwestern literary journals, including Rock, Paper, Scissors, where her piece Humble Warrior was awarded Best in Creative Nonfiction (2014).

Served on the editorial board for the literary annual Water~Stone Review

Wrote (Hamline’s first) MFA thesis (to be produced) as a blog, entitled Expecting to Fly, viewable at gailmilstein.wordpress.com.

Nell Morningstar Ubbelohde

Instructor, Communications, Humanities

Nell Morningstar Ubbelohde started writing when she was eight years old. In her early twenties, she was a published poet and essayist before she fell in love with film. Pursuing an undergraduate degree in film and photography led to almost twenty years of work in the commercial film and photography industries. Toward the end of this time, she rediscovered her love of writing and returned to school for an MFA, along with a career change to teaching.

She currently teaches as both a volunteer and as a contract adjunct for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, as well as at IPR. She is a founding member of Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, an organization that currently offers writing classes in most of the facilitiesrun by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

Nell writes fiction, creative nonfiction, and even occasional poetry when she can’t help herself. She has been published in a variety of local literary journals and reviews, and is at work completing her thesis novel. Nell is passionate about writing and reading, and loves to share these passions with her students. The empowerment that comes with learning to read critically and write effectively is the goal for all of her students.

Scott "Scooter" Nelson

Business, Commercial Music, Career Development

Prior to teaching at IPR, Scooter travelled the world as a musician. He has had a hand in performing, writing, singing, recording, playing and managing for the rock band Judd and the Mary Jane Alm Band. He also toured Japan with the City Cats as cultural music ambassadors for Minneapolis. A member of the IPR faculty for over 6 years, Scooter was directly involved in helping write and create the curriculum for the Media Business Communication & Networking Class, Career Development, & The Business & Production of Commercial Music class, & Venue development, which he teaches.

Scooter began his commercial singing career in 1983. His voice is featured on national TV jingles for General Mills, Jockey, Whirlpool, Northwest Airlines, Bush Beer and Minnesota Twins Baseball. He is a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) union. In 1987, Scooter worked as the music director and talent buyer for the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, where he created the music program, booked all talent and promoted shows seven nights a week. He also co-promoted talent at Guthrie Theater and The Dakota Jazz Club. Expanding his repertoire, Scooter created and produced "Live at The Fine Line," a weekly, one-hour radio show with Cities 97 FM.

Challenging James Brown for the status of "the hardest working man in show business," Scooter consulted on the development of Riverplace Entertainment and co-director of music operations for Mississippi Live. Armed with more ideas, he started Creative Music Service as a sole proprietor for Music Booking and Talent Buying. He has scored projects for PBS, National Geographic and Discovery.

Scooter serves as a music advocate in area schools. He continues to perform and does voiceover work. He helped write and develop the curriculum for two classes he teaches at IPR: Media Business Communication and Networking, and Business and Production of Commercial Music. Scooter is married, proud father of two, and lives happily in Golden Valley.

Jason Orris

Engineering, Production

Jason has been owner/manager/engineer of the Terrarium Recording Studio (www.the-terrarium.com) since starting it twenty years ago as a basement studio equipped with a coffee maker and a 16-track tape machine. After a year and a half the studio moved into the Washington Avenue location where some of the best sounding rock records in Minneapolis were recorded over the next decade. Ten years ago the studio moved again into its current location where it has expanded to include a mastering suite, natural light, and an espresso machine in addition to the coffee maker

As a man of many hats, Jason was also Business Manager of First Avenue for eight years (1987-1994), tackling the books as well as running sound in the Entry and DJ'ing in the Mainroom. Jason played bass for Interscope Records recording artists Polara from 1994 to 1998 and played guitar and sang for No Alternative recording artists the Hot from 1997 to 2002. He has been a faculty member of IPR since 2009 teaching Advanced Engineering and Mixing and Mastering.

Christy Perry

Faculty, Mathematics, Computer Technology

Christy was born in Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Her parents continually moved around the South — Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee —averaging a new state every two years. Yet, wherever they went, she found them.

She worked for more than 20 years as an insurance product manager and actuary. She served as vice president of product development for an insurance organization in Nashville, Tennessee, and as the executive officer over a product management team at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio.

Her insurance career continued to move her further and further north, and now she finds herself living in the frozen tundra of Minnesota with her husband, two sons, and a cat who begs to return to a warmer climate. Nevertheless, the Twin Cities are the ideal environment to pursue her second career as a writer, storyteller, and college instructor. Christy teaches all levels of mathematics, physics, and occasionally IT and writing classes.

Education

M.S., Mathematics: Middle Tennessee State University

B.A., Philosophy: St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland

Career Highlights

Vice president of product development for a startup insurance organization which grew from $0 to over $100,000,000 in premiums

Held executive positions in four different insurance organizations

Currently in startup mode of a small Minnesota-based publishing company

Steve Price

Production, Logic Studio, ProTools

Within the audio community, there are professionals who are sought after for their musical abilities- Steve is one of those guys. In the music business since the late 80's as a musician, songwriter, music promoter, engineer and producer, Steve is most noted for his band, Rex Daisy.

A Drake University graduate with a B.A. in Journalism – Mass Communication with an emphasis in commercial music production, he has recorded with a variety of labels including Geffen Records, and was privileged to have performed on the prestigious Austin City Limits TV program. More recent production credits include music for the film, "Dummy" (2003 Artisan Entertainment) and "The Osbournes" (2003 MTV). Currently, Steve is the head-recording engineer for Accompany Publishing. He is also the owner of Studio D3 as well as being a popular figure on the Minneapolis live scene.

Dik Shopteau

Engineering, Production

Description of Your Background/Experience

Dik's life in music began at age 16 as a founding member of the band Judd. As one of the more successful bands to emerge from the Midwest, Judd toured extensively for 10 years in the U.S. and Canada, recording in New York City, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto and Minneapolis. Dik shared stages with Tina Turner, Todd Rundgren, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Average White Band, Sammy Hagar, Buddy Miles and Ravi Shankar. Along the way, Judd became the "house band" for Swami Vishnu's annual yoga retreats in the Bahamas and Montreal.

Dik moved to Maui after Judd disbanded to concentrate on jazz fusion and beautiful beaches. One year later, he got a call to join the Daisy Dillman Band where he again toured the country and recorded two albums for RCA. One of those albums was recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound studio in Alabama.

In 1984, while still playing bass with many local artists, Dik decided to broaden his musical skills and move into production. It turned out to be a wise choice. As an engineer and producer he quickly became a cornerstone of the Minneapolis studio scene. From 1989-1999, he amassed a volume of credits as Chief Music Engineer at Cookhouse Recording Studios. Rock, R&B, country and gospel, radio and television post, sound design, jingles and on-location recording. In the year 2000 Dik built a full production recording studio in his home “GoDikGo Studio” continuing to service advertising and music clients, recording, composing and mixing.

Most recent projects in 2013 include:

Allman Brothers Band---Surround mix for “40th Anniversary Live DVD”

George Maurer---Theatrical recording and mix for “Empire Builder”

Scottie Miller---Live recording for the “Harriet Tubman House”

Costcutters Hair Salons---composition, voiceover and mixing Pawn America---recording and mixing and various others

Rod Smith

Entertainment Business

Before blundering into a freelance writing career around the turn of the millennium, Mr. Smith worked as a musician, retail buyer, disc jockey, independent curator, publicist, night club VJ, stage hand, bartender and lighting designer. He has written extensively about music, visual art, books and related topics for Decibel, Time Out New York, Paper Thin Walls, City Pages, the Seattle Weekly, Rain Taxi, the Star Tribune and various other publications. Mr. Smith lives in Downtown Minneapolis and plans to die with his boots on.

Marius Stefan

Mathematics

A PhD in mathematics, Marius comes to IPR by way of Los Angeles, Iowa, and Bucharest, Romania. He has published several scholarly articles in the field of mathematics and spends his free time playing online chess.

Tyson Taylor

Instructor, Sound Design

Tyson Taylor is an audio engineering professional with a reputation for meticulously managing complex projects, often under deadline pressure. Having worked for Electronic Arts on video games such as “The Sims,” his forte includes sound for video and computer games. He’s also worked for the Utah Jazz as the team’s videographer.

His skillset combines creativity with technical aptitude and business acumen. He prides himself on his “team wrangling” skills of bringing people with varying priorities, roles, and levels of technical understanding together.

Mike Trojan

Earth Science, Environmental Issues

Hydrologist with the State of Minnesota. Primary interest includes understanding fate and transport of pollutants in the environment. Have worked in a variety of environmental research, monitoring and regulatory programs for past 25+ years.

Trey Wodele

Program Chair, Digital Video and Media Production

Trey is one of the Twin Cities’ leading educators and advocates for youth in digital arts. He was a coordinator and founding teacher at the Digital Media Academy. Under his leadership the academy grew from a loose collection of electives to a thriving career academy and a destination school for digital media, particularly for Minneapolis' underserved, at risk youth.

Trey is the founder and executive director of the EDU Film Festival. Founded in 2007, EDU is Minnesota's premier film festival for high school video students. The festival draws hundreds of submissions each year and allows students from across the state to screen their work, interact with their peers, and participate in Q&As with industry professionals.

In his role as coordinator for the DMA, Trey cooperated with faculty and students at Globe Education Network's creative media departments to create applied learning experiences that paired high school students, college students, and industry professionals. The collaborations resulted in highly successful, nationally-recognized music video productions for hip hop acts, Atmosphere and Astronautalis.

In addition to serving as chair of The DVMP department, Trey teaches screenwriting, career and production capstone courses, and serves as the program coordinator for internships.

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